3-Hour Standoff Ends In Tear Gas And Penngrove Man’s Arrest

PETALUMA, CA — A Penngrove man surrendered after police negotiators spent approximately three hours speaking with him by phone while a SWAT team surrounded his home and deployed tear gas, Petaluma police said.

Police arrested 39-year-old Michael Orsini at approximately 11:29 p.m. Sept. 7 at his home in the 200 block of Hatchery Road. Officers took him to the Sonoma County jail.

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The arrest followed an investigation that began at late July 24, when Petaluma police received a 911 call about two men fighting in the 100 block of Eastside Circle. The caller reported that one man was bleeding.

Officers found blood in the driveway and entryway of the home, but the people involved had left.

Occupants identified the victim as one of the men involved but otherwise declined to cooperate with investigators.

At about 12:39 a.m., officers responded to Petaluma Valley Hospital after someone brought in a stabbing victim.

The patient confirmed that someone assaulted him at the location of the initial call, but otherwise did not answer police questions.

He was transferred to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Petaluma police detectives ultimately identified Orsini as a suspect in the incident, police said.

Sonoma County Superior Court judges approved warrants to search the Eastside Circle home and Orsini's residence, and to arrest Orsini on a felony warrant.

The search for Orsini ended Sept. 7, when Sonoma County sheriff's deputies learned he was at his home in the 200 block of Hatchery Road in Penngrove.

A Petaluma police SWAT team first surrounded the Eastside Circle home, ordered everyone outside, and searched the residence. The team then moved to Orsini's home, where officers confirmed he was inside but received no response to repeated announcements.

Crisis negotiators reached Orsini by cellphone at approximately 8:27 p.m. For the next three hours, they spoke with him intermittently as the standoff continued.

The team eventually released flameless CS gas inside the house. Orsini emerged and surrendered at approximately 11:29 p.m.

The searches uncovered cellphones, biological evidence, multiple knives, bear spray, a Taser, and multiple firearms.

The investigation remains active. Anyone with direct knowledge of the incident should contact Detective Jacob Vedder at 707-781-1241 or jvedder@cityofpetaluma.org.